DEAF CHILDREN FOCUS OF CAMP : AREA YOUTHS LEARNING HOW TO MAKE FILMS.

Byline: Susan Goldsmith Daily News Staff Writer

A group of children dressed in reptilian masks and dark capes wanders around an acting studio trying to be scary. They raise their arms like Frankenstein and lurch menacingly toward one another. But because the young actors are deaf, these are silent monsters, trying to be frightening without the benefit of sound or language.

In another room, 20 children are pitching movie plots with their hands, spinning tales in sign language about families in peril and athletes hoping to make it big.

These children are among the 60 Los Angeles-area deaf and hard-of-hearing youngsters attending a two-week filmmaking camp this summer at CBS Television City and Ren-Mar Studios, where they are learning acting, screenwriting, editing and directing skills.

The newly formed Multimedia Arts Program, funded by a $350,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education, is designed to encourage disabled youngsters to consider careers in the arts and entertainment and it is the first program of its kind in the world, said Terrylene Sachetti, the camp's creator. The program's first session began last week and continues through Saturday.

``I wanted to give deaf children the exposure to the filmmaking process early on so they would know they could be film producers and directors when they grow up,'' said Sachetti, who is also a deaf actress.

``At this camp, these kids are starting to realize we care about what's in their minds and want to know what they have in their imaginations,'' she said.

Although the filmmaking camp is for children between the ages of 5-11, Sachetti said it will be expanded next year to include 12- to 18-year-olds.

There are also a handful of campers without hearing problems, who have deaf parents or have a deaf sibling also attending this year's program. Each camper's $1,500 tuition to attend the two-week program is funded by the grant money and private donations.

Along with the hands-on editing, acting and directing classes, the campers are meeting with filmmakers such as Randa Haines, director of the film ``Children of a Lesser God''; Michael Shamberg, the producer of the movie ``Pulp Fiction''; and Arthur Hiller, a director, who is the president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

``I think this camp is terrific,'' said Hiller, who spoke to the children last week about his experiences as a young filmmaker. ``It will help them get in there and do it.''

Counselors and instructors, many of whom are also deaf or hearing-impaired, have impressive entertainment credentials as well. Anthony Natale, a deaf actor who recently played Richard Dreyfuss' son in ``Mr. Holland's Opus,'' is the camp's director. Sachetti, the camp's creator, portrayed a television producer in Oliver Stone's ``Natural Born Killers'' and has appeared in several television shows. The rest of the staff are professional screenwriters, actors, directors and actors.

During a morning screenwriting session at camp last week, it didn't take much prodding for wild stories to start tumbling out of the children. A few minutes into the workshop, 5-year-old Joshua Soudakoff came up with his own idea for a horror film involving the TTY - a teletype phone-like device that deaf people use to call one another.

``In my story there is a monster who is just outside the house and he's scaring the parents who are inside,'' the little boy said through a sign language interpreter. ``But the parents use the TTY to get Superman and he comes to take the monster away.''

After dividing into production teams, the campers will choose a story idea and convert it into a finished film by the end of the camp session.

Six-year-old Zachary Lotane, a deaf camper from Burbank, was buzzing with film project plans during a lunch break this week.

``I want to make a movie about a weightlifter,'' Lotane said through an interpreter. ``This camp is good practice for making movies.''

When asked what he liked best about the program, Lotane rearranged his blue baseball cap and said, ``My favorite part of camp is art, directing, acting and filmmaking.''

For Alaina Talbot, an 11-year-old from San Juan Capistrano, the camp is giving her a chance to interact with other deaf artists.

``This is important because it's teaching kids how to be successful,'' said Talbot, who plans on making a horror film for her final project. ``It's fun to be with other deaf kids and it also builds self-confidence.''

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2 Photos

Photo: (1) Instructors Richard Hall, left, Hanna Elias a nd Kevin Runyon show a camper how to use a camera.

(2) Joshua Soudakoff, 5, plays the monster while teacher Alan Scwarz gives direction during the filmmaking camp.

David Sprague/Daily News